A. Field
This invention relates to an apparatus for diverting flat, rectangular sheet material, in particular sheet-shaped value documents such as bank notes, from a first sheet-material transport path with a first transport direction to a sheet-material transport path with a transport direction different from the first transport direction, in particular for changing the transport direction by 90° or by 180°. The invention relates further to an apparatus for processing sheet-shaped value documents, in particular bank notes, with such a diverting apparatus between a first and a further transport path with different transport directions.
B. Related Art
Diverting apparatuses in which sheet material is diverted e.g. by 90° or 180° are used for example in bank-note processing apparatuses. Conventional diverting apparatuses, however, are either unsuitable for diverting an uninterrupted bank-note stream in such a way at high throughput speed, or are at least comparatively troublesome with regard to space requirements and/or their structural layout.
US-2005/0029168 A1 discloses for example a multimodular bank-note processing apparatus in which the diverting apparatus according to the invention described hereinafter can also be used advantageously. Said bank-note processing apparatus is configured as a tabletop device and serves to single the bank notes of a bank-note stack inserted into an input pocket by an operator, to check the singled bank notes with regard to characteristic features by means of suitable measuring and analysis devices, to sort the checked bank notes according to the particular check result, and to stack them in a predetermined output pocket by means of a spiral slot stacker depending on the sorting result. The output pockets are disposed partly side by side and partly one above the other such that all output pockets are optimally reachable by the operator. The bank notes are transported fundamentally in transverse orientation within the modules.
A disadvantage of said bank-note processing apparatus is that a very voluminous transport path formed from guide plates and twisted transport belts is provided for rotating the bank notes so that they can be transported further in transverse orientation laterally to the adjacent modules. The bank notes are thereby first rotated by 90° around their transport axis by means of the twisted transport belts, then the bank notes are diverted by 90° around an axis perpendicular to the transport direction and transferred in this orientation to the adjacent module. There the bank notes are returned to their original orientation by being first diverted by 90° again and then rotated around the transport axis by 90° by means of the twisted transport belts again. This method for transferring the bank notes from one module to an adjacent module while retaining the sheet-material orientation relative to the transport direction is very troublesome with regard to space requirements and structural layout, but does permit at least an uninterrupted bank-note stream to be diverted at high throughput speed.
WO97/33823 discloses an apparatus for changing the transport direction of single sheets as could presumably be used in the bank-note processing apparatus known from US-2005/0029168 A1 for diverting the bank notes by 90° to the adjacent modules. Bank notes transported in transverse orientation would then be passed on after the 90° diversion in longitudinal orientation to the adjacent module and could be diverted there by 90° accordingly again, so that they could then be processed further in transverse orientation again. However, this apparatus has the disadvantage that the diverting area must first be cleared before the next following bank note can run into the diverting area in order to avoid a collision of the leading bank note with the following one. It is therefore not possible with this apparatus to divert an uninterrupted bank-note stream at high throughput speed.
DE 196 32 224 A1 also describes an apparatus for diverting sheet material. It is proposed therein to do without diverting rollers in the diverting area and instead extend transport belts of the feeding and removing transport paths beyond the diverting zone in each case such that the bank note is removed from the diverting zone by means of the transport belt of the removing transport path. By means of a lever and roller system the transport belt of the removing transport path is pressed against the removal plane of the diverting area whenever a bank note has been fed to the removal plane. To increase the throughput while avoiding the previously described risk of collision of consecutive bank notes, a special embodiment provides for feeding the consecutive bank notes alternatingly to a first or a second removal plane by means of a gate, so that the next following sheet can already be fed to the second removal plane before the preceding sheet has been completely removed from the first removal plane and passed on. This accordingly requires two removal systems, one for each removal plane. This does permit an uninterrupted bank-note stream to be diverted at high throughput speed. However, providing a plurality of removal systems requires high constructional effort.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to propose an apparatus for diverting sheet material, such as bank notes or other sheet-shaped value documents, between a first and a further sheet-material transport path with different transport directions that permits an uninterrupted bank-note stream at high throughput speed while involving relatively little constructional effort.